U.S. culinary schools often differentiate between broth, usually made from viable portions of animalmeat, and stock, which may be less palatable, often made from vegetable scraps and bones.

Broth has been made for many years using the animal bones which, traditionally, are boiled in a cooking pot for long periods to extract the flavour and nutrients. The bones may or may not have meat still on them. Broth is regarded as having little nutrient value on its own. Sometimes broth can be referred to as water with salt.

When it is necessary to clarify a broth (i.e. for a cleaner presentation), egg whites may be added during simmering – the egg whites will coagulate, trapping sediment and turbidity into a readily strainable mass.